Exercise is one of the best ways to burn fat and improve your appearance.

Resistance training, such as weight lifting, can lead to a similar amount of weight loss as regular aerobic training. It also helps you add or maintain muscle mass and strength (, ).

Full-body resistance training workouts are also a great method to lower your body's carb stores and water weight, which can lead to a sharp decline in weight (, ).

Lifting weights can also protect your metabolism and hormone levels, which often decline during dieting (, ).

High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is another very effective training method.

Research suggests that 5–10 minutes of HIIT can lead to similar or greater benefits for health and weight loss as five times that amount of regular exercise (, , ).

Like weight lifting, it can quickly reduce muscle carb stores and also boost other important aspects of weight loss, such as your metabolism and fat-burning hormones (, ).

You can perform HIIT three to four times a week after a workout or as part of your normal training regimen. It is very important to do this with 100% effort or intensity. Most sprints should not last more than 30 seconds.

Here are a few protocols you can try. These can be done running in place or outside, or applied to a cardio machine like a bike, rower or treadmill:

Session 1: 10 x 20-second sprint with 40 seconds rest

Session 2: 15 x 15-second sprint with 30 seconds rest

Session 3: 7 x 30-second sprint with 60 seconds rest

Session 4: 20 x 10-second sprint with 20 seconds rest

Bottom Line: Lifting weights and doing high-intensity intervals are among the best ways to lose weight and deplete muscle glycogen stores. They can also boost your metabolism and provide other benefits.